Active Pass -- the largest of a handful of navigable passages between the Gulf Islands and the Strait of Georgia. The place seemed very appropriately named as we entered the narrow channel behind this B.C. ferry, and watched the current swirling around the navigational markers. Mid-passage we encountered another ferry headed the opposite direction, and were then passed by a third that slipped in behind us! The pair of bald eagles perched near a nest that we saw entering the pass made things feel even more active.
Then came the history lesson. Active Pass was actually named by Lt. Commander James Alden in 1855. Under his command, the U.S. revenue and surveying vessel, Active, was the first naval steamship to navigate the passage that now bears its name.
